http://roshpinaproject.com/2011/04/02/daily-mail-ancient-books-created-by-an-early-messianic-jewish-sect/London Daily Mail: Ancient books ‘created by an early Messianic Jewish sect’?
April 2, 2011 in Uncategorized | Tags: dead sea scrolls, Denominations, israel, Jews, Messianic Judaism, Religion and Spirituality, Roman Empire, yad lachim | by Joseph
I am interested in the way language is used, and the way language changes over time. Some people might suggest that the term “Messianic Jewish” is one that only Christian missionaries use in order to make their product more appealing to normal Jews, and is also used by Hebrew Christian apostates from Judaism who are confused about their identity, or want the best of both worlds.
In reality, the term ‘Messianic Jewish’ is used quite widely within evangelical, Reform, Protestant and Anglican circles to refer to Jews who believe that Yeshua the Nazarene is Moshiach. The term is also gaining legitimacy within the wider world, to refer to any group throughout history of Jews believing in Jesus.
Today, the London Daily Mail reports on a set of books that have been discovered in Jordan recently. They use the term “Messianic Jewish” in this way, to refer to an ancient community of Yeshua-worshipping Jews.
Some excerpts from the article (read it in full though):
The tiny booklet, a little smaller than a modern credit card, is sealed on all sides and has a three-dimensional representation of a human head on both the front and the back. One appears to have a beard and the other is without. Even the maker’s fingerprint can be seen in the lead impression. Beneath both figures is a line of as-yet undeciphered text in an ancient Hebrew script.
Astonishingly, one of the booklets appears to bear the words ‘Saviour of Israel’ – one of the few phrases so far translated.
[...]
The cave [where the books were found] is less than 100 miles from Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and around 60 miles from Masada, scene of the last stand and mass suicide of an extremist Zealot sect in the face of a Roman Army siege in 72AD – two years after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
It is also close to caves that have been used as sanctuaries by refugees from the Bar Kokhba revolt, the third and final Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire in 132AD.
[...]
Unlike the Dead Sea Scrolls, the lead codices appear to consist of stylised pictures, rather than text, with a relatively small amount of script that appears to be in a Phoenician language, although the exact dialect is yet to be identified. At the time these codices were created, the Holy Land was populated by different sects, including Essenes, Samaritans, Pharisees, Sadducees, Dositheans and Nazoreans.
[...]
If genuine, it seems clear that these books were, in fact, created by an early Messianic Jewish sect, perhaps closely allied to the early Christian church and that these images represent Christ himself. However another theory, put forward by Robert Feather – an authority on The Dead Sea Scrolls and author of The Mystery Of The Copper Scroll Of Qumran – is that these books are connected to the Bar Kokhba Revolt of 132-136AD, the third major rebellion by the Jews of Judea Province and the last of the Jewish-Roman Wars.
The revolt established an independent state of Israel over parts of Judea for two years before the Roman army finally crushed it, with the result that all Jews, including the early Christians, were barred from Jerusalem.
Thrilling stuff.
We’ll keep you posted on this story!
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